November 13, 2012 - Winner Selected!

Congratulations go out to Dave Dries for winning the Space Rocks Label Contest! Quite a few great entries were submitted for this contest (over 50 in all!), making for a difficult decision on part of the game's author, Darrell Spice, Jr. For his winning label design (pictured to the left), Dave Dries will receive a $50 gift certificate in the AtariAge Store, as well as a copy of Space Rocks once it is available for purchase.

For the first time, we've decided to award three Runner Up prizes as well! The runner ups for the Space Rocks contest are Brian Ostrowski, André Bolfing, and Nathan Strum (click each of the names to see their winning label). Each of the runner ups will receive a copy of Space Rocks adorned with their winning label.

Congratulations again to Dave Dries and to all the participants who took the time to enter the contest and show off their talents! You can view all 55 submissions below and discuss the contest (and results) with other AtariAge visitors in our Contests Forum.

If you'd like to be notified about our next label contest, please use our Contact Page to drop us a line. See you next time!

While on a routine Stellar Cartography mission, UESC Rains experienced a malfunction and warped into an asteroid field in an unknown sector of space. Unable to get a bearing to safely warp out, the ship must blast the asteroids into smithereens to prevent imminent destruction. To make matters worse, the local inhabitants are xenophobic and have sent warships and Magna-Mines to eliminate the alien (that's you!) threat.

AtariAge and homebrew author Darrell Spice, Jr. are proud to announce a label contest for the upcoming game Space Rocks! If you're a fan of the arcade games Asteroids or Asteroids Deluxe you'll love Space Rocks. While Atari released a version of Asteroids for the 2600, it pales in comparison to what Darrell Spice, Jr. has crafted in his version. Space Rocks is a 32K game that takes full advantage of our Melody Board resulting in a game that pushes the Atari 2600 hardware to its limits. The graphics, animations, and sound effects are well above what is typically experienced on the 2600.

Space Rocks Features:

One or Two Players
Head-to-Head or Cooperative Two Player Modes
Vector or Solid graphic styles
Mutlicolor rocks, or choose one of 16 monochrome color themes
Four difficulty levels: Kids, Easy, Normal, and Hard
Choose Shields, Hyperspace or 180 Degree Turn when you press Down on the controller
Friction can be turned on or off
Bonus life can be set to 5K, 10K, 20K or disabled
Supports Gamepads and Joysticks
Magna-Mines can be toggled on or off

The video at the top of this page will give you a good feel for Space Rocks. If you'd like to try the game yourself, you can download the latest version of Space Rocks here. You'll need the latest version of the Stella Atari 2600 Emulator to run Space Rocks. If you'd like to learn more about the game's development, you can read this ten page thread (as of this writing) in our Homebrew Discussion Forum.

The winner of the contest will receive a copy of Space Rocks in cartridge form, featuring their winning label design. The winner will also receive a $50 gift certificate in the AtariAge Store.

The contest will run until 11:59pm (CST), Sunday, November 11th, 2012 and all submissions must be received by this time!

After the contest has ended, AtariAge and Darrell Spice, Jr. will review the contest entries and select the winner.

Here's a healthy dose of screenshots for additional inspiration (click any image for a larger view):

Both a main label and an end label must be included with your submission. For your label to be considered, please understand these guidelines and conditions. Any questions may be directed to [email protected]:

Main Label Requirements: The main label should be the focus of your design efforts. Artwork for the main label will also appear on the front of the box and manual. Therefore, you should create the artwork at sufficiently high enough resolution to be suitable for these larger applications (600dpi raster art or vector artwork).

The title of the game, Space Rocks, should appear prominently on the label.

The following text should appear on the main label, preferably near the bottom of the label. This text can be small in size as long as it is legible at printed size. If you do not include this text on your label entry, it will be added later:

Copyright © 2012 Darrell Spice Jr.

Use with Joystick or Gamepad Controllers

The SpiceWare logo must appear on the main label:

Available below in vector and PNG formats.
End Label Text: The end label must contain the game's title, Space Rocks.
Clearly Legible Text - All text on the label must be clearly legible at the size the label will be printed (see below for actual dimensions). Please keep this important consideration in mind while you are designing your label.
Multiple Submissions - While we will gladly accept multiple submissions, we ask that each label be unique from your any previous submissions in some significant fashion. We reserve the right to reject labels that differ only in color or some other minor attribute from previous entries. We will gladly replace previous submissions with new entries if you so request.
Use of Copyrighted Images - If you use any copyrighted images, you must seek permission from the copyright holder before using that image as part of your label. Likewise, any labels that use artwork from a previously submitted label will be rejected. If we determine you have used copyrighted images on your label (or labels) and you have not obtained the rights to use those images, your entries will be rejected.
Grant of Rights/Warranty/Indemnification - By submitting an entry (or entries) to this contest, you: (i) grant to AtariAge the full right and license to use and reproduce your submission(s) for all purposes, including without limitation for use as the cartridge label for Space Rocks on the Atari 2600; (ii) warrant and represent to AtariAge that all materials you submit are original to you and that they do not infringe upon any rights of any third parties; (iii) shall indemnify AtariAge from any and all claims which might be brought against them pertaining to your warranty above; and, (iv)acknowledge that the above stated grant of rights is made freely without the expectation of any compensation whatsoever, except in the event you are selected as the contest winner you will be given a copy of the game in cartridge form and an AtariAge $50 gift certificate as stated elsewhere in these contest terms and conditions.

Label submissions and questions about the contest must be sent to [email protected]. We will post submissions publicly on this page as we receive them. The contest may also be discussed in our Contests Forum. For some inspiration, you can view some of the many labels submitted in previous label contests.

Remember, the contest ends at 11:59pm (CST), Sunday, November 11th, 2012!

Labels should be saved in a non-lossy image format such as PNG, TIFF, PCX, or BMP. If you need to save your image using JPEG for some reason, please use a minimal amount of compression. In order for the label to look good when printed, it should be saved at 300dpi or better. If you are concerned about large file sizes you can drop us a line before mailing the file, but generally this will not be a problem.

Please take care to make sure your label is proportioned correctly. You may download these graphics to assist in this effort:

Please do not send your labels already attached to these templates, they are provided only to help you properly frame your label. We will shrink and crop your label to the correct size and place it on the templates for inclusion on this page where others may view them.

Actual label sizes when printed are 2 3/4" x 3 3/8" for the main label and 2 3/4" x 9/16" for the end label. If you have artwork that goes to the edge of the label, you will also need a 1/8" bleed around the edges. This bleed isn't necessary for the contest, but if your label design is chosen as the winner it will be necessary in order to print the label.